Australian 'Robin Hood Bandit' alleged to have stolen a million

A MELBOURNE man dubbed the ''Robin Hood Bandit'' for his exploits in the US, is alleged to have stolen more than $1 million from about 20 Melbourne investors in an elaborate property scam.

Corey Allan Donaldson, 39, a self-help guru, was given the Robin Hood title last week after he claimed that most of the $US140,750 ($A136,600) he stole from a Wyoming bank was given to the homeless.

Melbourne-born Donaldson has lived in the US for 17 years and returned to Australia for several months last year.

The Sunday Age can reveal he advertised a property investment scheme in Melbourne in March 2012, promising that a $62,000 investment in distressed Las Vegas real estate would be converted into $125,000 within six months after it was sold to an unnamed Chinese partner. The promotional material boasted that Donaldson had two books published by Random House and an unblemished record.

A Frankston businessman, who has asked not to be named, said he met Donaldson at Melbourne's RACV Club in April last year.

He invested $250,000 in the scheme, but has not heard from Donaldson since last October and has given up hope of getting his money back.

''I felt like I'd done reasonable due diligence and his background stacked up,'' the man said.

''I fell off my chair when I read about the bank robbery in the US.''

He said he was aware of about 20 other investors who had trusted Donaldson with their savings.

''The financial toll is of course huge,'' he said.

''I keep recalling all the claims made by Donaldson with regard to his scheme - the rewards were immense, with the risks non-existent. This was a very well planned and orchestrated scam.''

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would not confirm if the matter was under investigation, but it is believed to have received several complaints.

Donaldson moved to the US in 1996 and re-invented himself as a self-help guru and relationship counsellor, but now faces a long stretch in prison after allegedly robbing a bank. FBI documents allege he entered a bank in the ski town of Jackson on December 31, introduced himself to a manager as ''Charlie'' and demanded $2 million. He allegedly told the manager they were being watched by members of a Mexican cartel, who had planted ''four military-grade explosives'' around the bank. Donaldson is alleged to have warned the manager he would be ''hunted down and killed'' if he refused to comply, according to the FBI affidavit.

He fled with $US140,750, but was arrested on January 22 in Utah, where he has lived since leaving Australia.

During a phone interview with US media from the Sweetwater Detention Centre in Rock Springs, Wyoming, last week, Donaldson said he gave part of the stolen money away to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in the US.

''I regret that laws had to be broken to do what I did, but there are people with a roof over their heads right now because of what I did,'' Donaldson said.

Detective Sergeant Andy Pearson of Jackson Police confirmed that Donaldson was found with $US16,000 when arrested last month.

''I do believe that he gave money away. However, I do not believe he is Robin Hood,'' Detective Sergeant Pearson told Fairfax Media.

Over the past 17 years, Donaldson has operated a string of unsuccessful businesses, including a public relations firm called the Credibility Consultant and an online counselling service called FreedomAcademy.com.

He appointed himself ''the Chief Freedom Professor'' and claimed on the company website to ''roam free with king-like determination to liberate the captive and devour man-made limitation''.

He is expected to be transferred to a prison in Wyoming next week and will face trial in Cheyenne.

■chouston@theage.com.au

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